NorthWest Kayak Anglers
Regional Discussions => Washington Kayak Fishing => Topic started by: JasonM on October 01, 2018, 03:58:34 PM
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Is anyone heading out kayak fishing for chum salmon around Hood Canal, or anywhere else, soon? I evidently missed Coho at Golden Gardens and it's already closed on the Snohomish River, so I'm just as happy to target chum salmon to check off my kayak fishing species list. I've never fished for chum salmon or even seen one in person, so the sum total of my knowledge is reading stuff on the web or hearing second-hand stories of freight train strength from fish so thick in the water that the people pack into "combat fishing" zones. ;D
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So jealous of you right now! Wish we had them down here. When not if you go we want pictures and lots of pictures.
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So jealous of you right now! Wish we had them down here. When not if you go we want pictures and lots of pictures.
I don't have them up near where I live. It will be a three hour trip each direction for me to chase the chums. :)
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Is anyone heading out kayak fishing for chum salmon around Hood Canal, or anywhere else, soon? I evidently missed Coho at Golden Gardens and it's already closed on the Snohomish River, so I'm just as happy to target chum salmon to check off my kayak fishing species list. I've never fished for chum salmon or even seen one in person, so the sum total of my knowledge is reading stuff on the web or hearing second-hand stories of freight train strength from fish so thick in the water that the people pack into "combat fishing" zones. ;D
Hoodsport in November, but sometimes they show up early.
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I'll be fishing the mouth of Minter creek for them this year. There's kayak launch a few miles away at Purdy spit. Anchovy or herring under a bobber is the technique, there are people who catch them trolling extremely slow, usually using purplish colors.
Here's a video WDFW did using a bobber for them. It was at John's creek near Shelton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAwoM4IEqqU
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Brought this one home just to convince my wife I was fishing...I doubt you'll find a harder fighting salmon pound for pound, go early if you're looking for table or smoking food...
(http://)
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So jealous of you right now! Wish we had them down here. When not if you go we want pictures and lots of pictures.
I don't have them up near where I live. It will be a three hour trip each direction for me to chase the chums. :)
Lot better than a 12 hour trip one way.
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I am still eating my smoked chum from 2013. That is how good it is. ;)
Seriously though, I have brined it for 48 hours then smoked it. It is good on smoked salmon pizza cut into small chunks. The oven firms it up real well. I also put it in pasta in small chunks. That being said, I only smoke the fillets of the better looking ones. The rest get turned into crabs on a later date. The Pacific City crabs love them.
I like to use an Okuma Reflexions 7 foot one piece 8-17 pound 1/4~5/8oz spinning rod. Makes for lots of fun.
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I enjoy the catching a lot more than eating salmon, even on the "better" salmon. Since it's a 3-hour trip each way for me, I'm considering heading there very early on a Saturday morning so I can fish all day on Saturday, sleep around Hoodsport somewhere (which I can do in my SUV with the kayak and cargo box on top, so don't even have to have a campsite/hotel room), and then fish on Sunday until I head home in the afternoon. I mostly want to get a sleigh ride or several, as I was just getting into kayak fishing last year and missed out on the chum salmon.
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So jealous of you right now! Wish we had them down here. When not if you go we want pictures and lots of pictures.
I don't have them up near where I live. It will be a three hour trip each direction for me to chase the chums. :)
Lot better than a 12 hour trip one way.
Its 6 hours each way! Well worth it :)
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I enjoy the catching a lot more than eating salmon, even on the "better" salmon. Since it's a 3-hour trip each way for me, I'm considering heading there very early on a Saturday morning so I can fish all day on Saturday, sleep around Hoodsport somewhere (which I can do in my SUV with the kayak and cargo box on top, so don't even have to have a campsite/hotel room), and then fish on Sunday until I head home in the afternoon. I mostly want to get a sleigh ride or several, as I was just getting into kayak fishing last year and missed out on the chum salmon.
You're more likely to catch Coho right now in the lower Canal, I've been hooking them flatlining spinners at like 3+knts off near Union. Chehalis river also just opened for Coho and there's some jumpers still hanging out around here in Budd Inlet.
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Has anyone tried pickling chum? Wondering if a fairly bright one might come out OK that way...
I've seen some recipes where people have pickled some less than bright river fish (salmon).
I can tear up some pickled herring.
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I'm going to give it a try with the fly rod this winter. Was told that the Nisqually has a pretty good run in November if it's open.
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The Slayride Chum Derby is coming up in a couple of weeks. Your arms are jello after two days.
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I see that event is scheduled according to the Facebook page, but I haven't seen any mention of it on here. I posted in the Events forum asking some questions about it. It seems odd that there's no buzz on here about that event compared to all the others.
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Me and a couple of buddies plan to attend the Derby this year. All of us are noobs lol I've only manage to take my Lure 11.5 on smaller lakes earlier this year. Any tips on fishing the area during the Derby? Thanks in advance!
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Bring a 10# weight on a rope for an anchor, cast bobber + jigs. Tipped w/ shrimp helps a lot. Green, orange, pink, red, purple is all good. That's it!
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Awesome! This helps alot. Thanks DWB123!
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You'll eliminate snagging with this method, and there's so many fish there that you'll undoubtedly find a good # of willing biters. Don't overthink it. It's a simple, and fantastic, fishery. Good luck!
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Thanks for the suggestions- sounds like a lot of fun
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I fish the hatchery every year from the bank and no doubt the fishery there is amazing. Just looking to be as safe as possible and get a full experience on the yak lol
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Bring a 10# weight on a rope for an anchor, cast bobber + jigs. Tipped w/ shrimp helps a lot. Green, orange, pink, red, purple is all good. That's it!
Why a 10 lb weight on a rope for an anchor? Is the current so strong that my normal 3lb kayak anchor won't hold?
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Are you guys going to launch at the hatchery?
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Are you guys going to launch at the hatchery?
Many of the guys are staying at the Sunrise Motel so we launch from there. The other launch is the park down by the grocery store. Bring a 10# weight on a rope for an anchor, cast bobber + jigs. Tipped w/ shrimp helps a lot. Green, orange, pink, red, purple is all good. That's it!
Why a 10 lb weight on a rope for an anchor? Is the current so strong that my normal 3lb kayak anchor won't hold?
The weather for the last two Slayrides have started off sporty. The bottom is pretty flat so if the wind/wind waves pick up you need a little more weight to stay in one place.
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yeah I would say that 25mph winds with 35ish mph gusts make it a little sporty LOL
Maybe bring 20lbs. or a big ass rock.
Pray the weather is favorable. The tide looks like it will be pretty good. The high and low swing is pretty small on derby day.
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Bring a 10# weight on a rope for an anchor, cast bobber + jigs. Tipped w/ shrimp helps a lot. Green, orange, pink, red, purple is all good. That's it!
Why a 10 lb weight on a rope for an anchor? Is the current so strong that my normal 3lb kayak anchor won't hold?
actually kinda the opposite. current is very mild so your claw won't dig in, and you're only in 4-8' of water. it's nicer to have little line out and no scope, especially when you're surrounded by so many other watercraft. big rock, cinder block, 10# weight is much easier for this fishery, IMHO.
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NWIFC's Apple Cove purse seine test boat caught a little over 2k Chum yesterday. There should be a fair amount of Chum in the canal right now.
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Hmmm...Thinking about this. Looks like a blast and only 1.5 hour drive for me. Have to look at the weather forecast. When do the blackmouth start showing up in the canal? I'd really like to give some of that a try this year (just south of Dabob area). I can't find very much specific info googling. Looks like its generally better fishing in Feb-March for blackmouth but it's open now sooo...
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Just fished Hoodsport this morning through the low tide change. Didn't see anyone hooking up or landing any. Really quiet. I was using my fly rod with a chartreuse shrimp on a slow strip and a floating line. I'm a newbie at this chum fishing. No wind and flat as parking lot. Saw only a couple jumpers.
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When do the blackmouth start showing up in the canal? I'd really like to give some of that a try this year (just south of Dabob area). I can't find very much specific info googling. Looks like its generally better fishing in Feb-March for blackmouth but it's open now sooo...
They're in there now. Some were picked up near the area you were talking about earlier in the month as seen on WDFW's creel reports (https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/creel/puget/reports.php?MA=12). As a tip don't give too much credence to the creel reports in 13, 12, 11 (Winter), 6 (Some Summers), 5 (Winter). WDFW's sample design (https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01357/) (pg.89) doesn't incorporate intensive monitoring in these areas and during these time periods, they basically sample random ports on random days. Just because they didn't see fish being caught isn't very much of an indication that there aren't fish there. It's always best to try it yourself and be the rumor - and not follow them.
Fish hard.
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When do the blackmouth start showing up in the canal? I'd really like to give some of that a try this year (just south of Dabob area). I can't find very much specific info googling. Looks like its generally better fishing in Feb-March for blackmouth but it's open now sooo...
They're in there now. Some were picked up near the area you were talking about earlier in the month as seen on WDFW's creel reports (https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/creel/puget/reports.php?MA=12). As a tip don't give too much credence to the creel reports in 13, 12, 11 (Winter), 6 (Some Summers), 5 (Winter). WDFW's sample design (https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01357/) (pg.89) doesn't incorporate intensive monitoring in these areas and during these time periods, they basically sample random ports on random days. Just because they didn't see fish being caught isn't very much of an indication that there aren't fish there. It's always best to try it yourself and be the rumor - and not follow them.
Fish hard.
Thanks. I'm going to hit it pretty soon.